The Question of Why?
by Suteben
Summary: A short look into the mind of the dark lord, Voldemort.


Author's Warning: I'm not too sure about the rating of this fic. My pre-reader thought it could be 'G,' I thought maybe 'R,' because of some of the subject matter, so I decided on PG. There's not really anything _too_ bad, but just in case, you've been warned.

Disclaimer: Pretty standard, I own nothing and no one that appear in this fic.

The Question of "Why?"

It is rather interesting, really; the wizards never ask "why?" One would think that they would want to know why I do what I do; what my motives are, but they don't. I am forced to wonder "why not?" Why do they not ask me why I do what I do? Do they believe that I hate muggles that much? Are they truly so blinded by the belief of their own righteousness that they believe in the idea of evil simply for the sake of evil?

I do not believe in evil merely for evil's sake. So why, then? That is a question that requires a good deal of explanation.

It all began when my muggle father left my mother after he found out she was a witch. After she died, I grew up with a great hatred of muggles and those with muggle blood; myself included. My hatred of them was so great that I even unlocked the Chamber of Secrets, and set the basilisk within upon muggle born students. It was so great that even though I was forced to seal the Chamber, I left a copy of my mind within a diary so that it could be reopened in the future.

I wonder what ever happened to that diary...

The first thing I did after I graduated from Hogwarts was to track down my father. The man had taken a new family; he had completely forgotten my mother. I killed his new family quickly, but I tortured him. Eventually, between dosages of the _Cruciatus_ curse, he managed to ask me a question. He asked my why I was doing this. I told him why: It was because he abandoned my mother. Then, then my father did something I never expected: he laughed. He dared to laugh!

And then he asked me another question, _"A-and is that what gives you the right to do this? Or is it be-because you're a wizard?"_

_"Both, fool,"_ I replied, _"Your abandonment of my mother gives me the right to vengeance and I'm entitled to taking it from your life and the lives of your new family because I am a wizard, and you are a muggle."_

_"Abandonment? Y-you use that word again... But I ab-abandoned n-no one!"_

At this point I became interested in what he was saying. _"How can you possibly say that?"_

_"B-because I nev... never loved her! She used a-a love potion on me... I found out, and th-that broke the spell! It... it was never m-me who was in-in love with her... just a puppet..."_

At this, I froze. No one could lie after that kind of torture, but that would mean... It would mean that he was telling the truth!

I looked at the man, who I had so long believed to be a monster, in a new light. He was telling the truth, which would mean that my mother was the monster. Love potions are illegal because they change how a person acts, thus changing who they are, and my mother used one.

That was when it struck me. How many wizards and witches had used similar methods to manipulate muggles just because they could? I myself had tortured my father and killed his family using magic, so where did that put me?

In my horror, and my rage at feeling that horror, I struck my father down, but the damage had been done. I now saw the truth of the crimes the Wizarding world commits against muggles. Mind alterations and, especially for, but not limited to, myself and my followers, torture and murder. All we brought to the muggle world was pain and suffering.

So, the answer to whether or not I hate muggles enough for it to motivate all that I do is: No, not anymore.

Now, I look at the many crimes that the Wizarding world has committed, not only against muggles, but to all beings besides themselves, and I am disgusted. We claim to be better than all others, but that is untrue. All we have is a little more power than they do, yet we show muggles and magical creature alike such great disrespect. We prolonged the Burning Times without care for the muggles who perished, we have driven the giants to near extinction for no cause, we treat the great and noble dragons as mere animals, and countless other crimes...

It is no longer the muggle in me that sickens me, it is the wizard.

I will make the entire Wizarding world pay. I have already given up my humanity; I have already become a true monster, but that is only so that I will be able to destroy the others. My followers may hold delusions of grandeur, of ruling the world, but I hold none.

We will all perish in the end, and I will be remembered as nothing but a monster, but I will force the Wizarding world to see its mistakes, and admit them. Their crimes will come back to haunt them, their sins will be paid for. Surely, if it exists, I shall burn in Hell for my crimes, but the only ones I will regret are the muggle-born the basilisk killed, and my father's family.

I do not intend to destroy the Wizarding world, however. If it were merely destroyed, the Wizarding world would be unable to pay, and so I will force the Ministry to expose itself. I could go to the muggles and prove magic to them myself, but that would not be punishment for the Wizarding world. I will create such havoc that they can no longer conceal it, and the Wizarding world will be forced to seek the assistance of the muggles. Then, and only then, will there be true punishment as the great pedestal we wizards have placed ourselves upon will be destroyed and never again will our arrogance be allowed to rule.

I am Lord Voldemort, and I must succeed, for the good of all. Only then can there be equality.

- - -

Author's Notes: Well, there it is. I hope you enjoyed reading it. This story came to me one day when I realized that Rowling never actually explained _what_ Voldemort was trying to do, and I decided that in order to know the "what," we needed to know the "why." The way Rowling has portrayed Voldemort so far has just felt somewhat shallow to me, so I wanted to try and deepen his character. I don't actually read many Harry Potter fan-fictions, so I don't know if this idea has ever been used before. Reviews are welcome.


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